The
Euro is now the currency of 17 countries including France( UK,
Denmark, Sweden and most newly admitted members do not belong
to "Euroland").The Franc remained in use until February 17, 2002 but it as
a fixed proportion of one Euro (1 Euro = 6,55957 Francs)....
As explained in a recent and brilliant book by T.R.Reid,the
Euros can be considered, after only a few years, like an outstanding
success and a major achievement for the building of Europe.

Why so many
police in the streets?

Given
the number of revolutions
in this country (1789, 1830, 1848, 1871, 1936, 1968, to name
a few), the State is always afraid of trouble and riots in Paris.
All the (many) revolutions in France started from Paris. This is why until the 1970s, Paris was the only city in France
which did not have an elected mayor. Read more about French police.

Following are a few commonly
shared stereotypes of France as seen globally by the French.

A " Harmonious "
country : the French always refer to France as the " hexagon
" ; it is a fact that the shape of the country fits in a
regular hexagon but the image is so commonly used that it must
be seen as a sign that even the shape of the country refers to
" harmony " and " regularity ". The French
also value their temperate climate, i.e. not too hot, not too
cold, etc, the mix of seaside, mountain and plains as proof that
France's geography reflects perfection. Read some geographical
facts.

The rooster is the national bird,
dating back to old Gallic traditions. It shows a genuine sense
of humor to take such a stupid and arrogant animal as a national
symbol. As Churchill pointed out, "no wonder the French
took it as an emblem: it is the only animal who can sing with
his feet in mud (he used another word...) and believe that
he is the one who makes the sun rise..."

Why don't they
speak English ? It would be easier for everybody.

Their language is extremely
important for the French : children spend hours every day on
grammar and dictations. It is socially crucial to speak and write
well and the annual contest "La Dictée" (the
dictation) is followed by millions on TV. Read about "l'exception culturelle
française" (the French cultural exception)

Seing itself as the country
"which invented the concept of Human Rights",
France sincerely considers it is entitled to defend it worldwide
and there is an implicit competition with the USA, which have
exactly the same feeling !

An important country
! The French refuse to admit that their country is a medium-size
world power ! You may consider it ridiculous (and you'll be right
very often) ; but you may also consider it positively : the French
did not give up and in fact, their influence is smaller than
they think but bigger than it would be if they had given up exercising
some form of leadership ! See French foreign
policy and read Peyrefitte
and Frischer.

What a challenge to explain
France and the French to Americans!

A "modèle social"
(social model) : the French are proud of their social protective
policies (unemployment,
health, education,..)
and very attached to them ; they wonder why other countries do
not emulate them.

Asked to speak on several occasions
while in the States, Harriet Welty Rochefort was asked questions
about

are they as aggressive with
each other as with other people ? Answer : no : they are worse.
This is a KEY fact ! Read a quote
about it.

freedom of the press in France
(yes, there's freedom of the press!),

what kind of sports the French
practice (the same ones we practice in the States except baseball
and football),

what language the French use
in French schools (French!!)

and the most frequently asked
question: are the French rude (no, not really but it's more byzantine
than that : see French Toast !!!)

The North-South split is
deeply felt. The South is Mediterranean, close to the Roman
roots, speaking languages deriving from Latin (they are called
"regions of Langue d'Oc languages") when the
North is Germanic, close the the Frankish roots (they are called
"régions of Langue d'Oil" languages).
The French have mutual stereotypes on both sides of the limit
(which is the river Loire). More about the French
splits.

DID YOU KNOW THAT.... The word France (and French, etc...) comes from the name of a Germanic tribe, the Franks, who, among others (Wisigoths, Ostrogoths, ..), invaded the old Romanised Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire. The Franks (the name means : "free") founded litlle principalities between what is now France and Belgium and progressively conquered the whole country and their king, Clovis, became the first King of France at the end of 5th Century.

There were, obviously, many
questions about how and what the French eat. Top query on that
list was: How do they eat all that food and stay slim?
If they read Harriet's last book, French
Fried: The Culinary Capers of an American in Paris,
hopefully they'll get the answer!

Speaking engagements
such as these show two things: great curiosity about France and
all things French, and how different the French really are -
still - in this era of globalization (which the French call "mondialisation").